


The Cafe

by WriteForMeSinpie



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cafe AU, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Light-Hearted, One Shot, Protectiveness, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Then, kpop, unless I decide to continue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:01:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28278822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriteForMeSinpie/pseuds/WriteForMeSinpie
Summary: Baekhyun has to deal with the popular cafe around the corner while you deal with your horrible boss. You have a connection to each other that is magnetic.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Reader, Byun Baekhyun/You
Kudos: 4





	The Cafe

**Author's Note:**

> This is for an Exo Secret Santa gift on tumblr - but I want to continue this one - since it might take some time to get back to I’m leaving this as a one shot for now.

His eyes are tired but his smile is warm. 

You walk into the small café and end up wedged between a line of people waiting for to-go orders. You feel like a sardine. He’s the only one at the counter - the last part-timer having scurried off to work at the bigger café around the corner, leaving him to run the place by himself. 

The ‘other’ café (as you have taken to calling it) relies on cheap tricks and thrills to bring in their customers and although their product doesn’t taste as good, it _is_ less expensive. They have mass production on their side and everyone is looking to shave a few pennies. 

Baekhyun’s café may not be here much longer. 

“There’s the light in my tunnel.”

There’s no scientific proof to back you up but you can tell his eyes brighten a little while he waits for your response. 

“Toot, toot.” 

The train at the end of his tunnel, you are always there when he needs a ride.

He nods before calling out a name, sliding a tall cup across the counter and turning once more. It’s when he starts operating two machines and you notice someone tapping their foot while looking toward the door that you lift the café bar door. Slipping an apron over your head, you signal for a second line to form.

“What are you thinking?” 

“Americano double shot.” 

Grumpy McGrump.

“Great choice. That’s one of my favourites,” you say, collecting the cash and nibbling on your lower lip while you think of the best drink Baekhyun ever made you. “Yum. Love to see a man with great taste.”

He stares at you for a moment as you hold out his change before a stunning grin flashes across his face. “Thank you.” 

You wonder if it really would have been so hard to start the interaction that way in the first place but don’t linger on McGrumpster for long. There is a line of thirsty people who needed their order five minutes ago.

After a few minutes the rush starts to die down. Baekhyun is using this moment of silence to scrub at the caramel syrup drizzled across the gray countertop. You reach out your hand and squeeze his shoulder. “Baeks, you good?” 

“Never been better.”

“You sure?”

“How can I not be great when you are here?” You can’t know for sure but his eyes shimmer and they dance in the sparkle of the low-hanging, dull lights just a few inches above him. Any taller and he would head butt the colorful hanging lights. 

His smile is warm. ‘You are safe here,’ his smile says. That smile is one of the reasons this place was able to keep afloat when Baekhyun first opened the shop and no one thought the area was worth coming to. It hadn’t been much at the time, but now the area was being gobbled up left and right and the café is in trouble due to oversaturation.

Baekhyun motions for the apron.

"I can help you clean.”

“You’ve helped enough. I really appreciate it.”

“Are you sure? I-”

“There won’t be that many more people coming by now anyway.” 

You know why. You don’t push. 

“Good. Because I need to put my feet up and relax after the mess of a day I just had,” you say with a small chuckle.

“Your jerk boss again?” He wipes down the counter as you make yourself comfortable. When you nod, he adds, “you really need to quit.”

“But it pays so well.” The smile is wide but it doesn’t reach your eyes. You want to find another job, of course you do, but it’s hard to find something with the same pay. You can admit you haven’t looked as hard as you should. Sometimes it’s hard to stop the routine and make a change. “It’s hard to say goodbye to that kind of money.”

“I understand.” He doesn’t.

Baekhyun lives in a bubble. He has nothing to worry about. He has everything he needs here and even if it was all stripped away he would be fine. Unlike you, he has a backup. You, you do not. If you were to lose this job your whole life would fall apart. He doesn’t understand what it means to wait desperately for your next check to clear. He doesn’t understand the reality of what getting your hands dirty can really mean.

“So what did he do?”

“Did I tell you his new nickname?”

“No, what is it?”

“Mr. Boss.” Baekhyun chuckles. “I’m serious! Today he made me call him Mr. Boss. In a husky tone.”

“Just quit! He is such a pig. You deserve so much more than that.” 

“It’s not that bad.”

“It’s the small things that he pushes you to do until one day you look back and wonder how the hell you got here, how you were able to do something so against your inner values.” His eyes are clear, they hold your stare until you can’t handle it anymore, shame burns across your skin and you turn away. “He is disgusting. Where do you work again?”

“Nice try.” 

He grins before motioning to one of the tables. You follow and sit as he starts to clean up the mess from earlier.

Baekhyun doesn’t know where you work. One of the rules. 

“One day you’re gonna let it slip,” he says with a laugh as he carries the glasses and mugs back to the counter. 

“You think so?” 

But you don’t tell him. You know better. Instead you call it a day. “Time to get back to the daily grind.” 

The next day you drag your feet, head lowered as you practically crawl into the café.

“Light to my tunnel.” His sing-song voice is almost enough to snap you out of your lethargic bout. 

Almost. 

“Toot, toot.” 

Your voice must be off. His eyes narrow, his hand on your forehead before you realize he has even moved. Everything is moving in slow motion and you know you should have stayed at home. Baekhyun is going through his own issues, he doesn’t need to be worried about you too.

“You okay?”

“I was fired." Tears well without your permission on the utterance of the last word, the disco ball's glare casting a shadow across Baekhyun's gentle features. You turn away from him. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Okay.” The word is elongated as if he is trying to understand, the soft word lingers after it has left his lips. “Where was it you were fired from?”

You hold in the giggle that threatens to claw its way up and out of your throat. The only release being a slight puff of air forced through your nose. You turn and the tears are flowing now. 

It’s Baekhyun’s fault, what with his perfect teeth as he winks and his genuine compassion. You shuffle over to him and collapse in his arms. This is safe. This is where you want to be. He is yours and you are his. There is nothing that can break this friendship. Nothing can take you from this place.

“I’ve been thinking about this for awhile now,” he says slowly, taking turns stroking your hair and rubbing your neck. “You should come and work for me.”

“What?” You mumble the question into his chest. 

“I wanted you to get away from that pig anyway and I need the help. I can’t pay you as much as Mr. Boss, but it’s something until you can find something else,” his words spill out without pause. “Plus you will get all the free coffee and food you want for free.”

It happens. The empty claustrophobic crushing wind within your chest is released and you can’t hold back the laughter that builds and bubbles out. He is just so precious. After all the things you put up with at your job, the people who had been sucked dry and spat back out by the corporation that didn’t care how you felt as long as you were efficient, the endless hours. This isn’t going to be a forever job, but apparently either was the last. It isn’t your dream, but it is something to tide you over until you can decide what exactly your dream _is._

Baekhyun frowns, putting his hands on his hips. “Is that so ridiculous?”

“No. No,” you try to talk but you can’t stop giggling. You hold your hand up as he starts to respond. Taking a few long deep breaths, you continue, “I’m happy, Baeks. I’m letting out the embarrassment and the anger. And I’m so frickin’ ecstatic.”

“Well, it’s just a minimum paying job. Nothing to write home about.” He continues to frown, but his hands drift down from his hips.

“This is home to me. You are home.” The tears are back but now they have to flutter past your grin. “How did I get so lucky?”


End file.
